Holly jolly Holiday time!

I finally got around to getting Connor to his one year picture session (at 13 months old). Better late than never I suppose. One year session was a complete night and day experience compared to the previous sessions over his one year of life. We have a walker, talker, mover shaker on our hands so we didn't get too many "great" shots, but we got enough for Christmas cards and for some great print outs. Poor lil guy was hungry and tired, and considering those things on top of the studio's camera flash not working and our slow as molasses photographer who refused to snap those priceless shots- we did pretty good.

This week C has started signing on his own. We've been practicing this since he was about 6 months old, but this week we have gotten thank you and more signed to us at the correct time. I can't help but giggle when his lil fingers tap together to sign 'more' when he is eating. I love watching a child actually "grasp" an idea/subject. Amazing.

Still hasn't said "mama" yet, but has "dada" down perfectly. Can almost say "deer", can say "up" and point, and basically just points and grunts to everything he wants or needs. According to babycenter for 13 month old, we are right on track.

Mommy ran her first half marathon since having lil C man, and it was a great day for a 13.1 mile run. I shaved a few minutes off my last half time so that is something to celebrate. Still addicted to running, just going to take it slow during the winter and this DARKNESS. Is anyone else dreading these dark evenings? They make me so sleepy and lazy. Ugh.

Getting excited to see the Colorado mountains at Christmas-time, and for jolly old St. Nick to make an appearance at our home.

Until we blog again..

Living a life of Love!

Swing in the Fall

Rangers Win Division & Mommy Runs 5k

Turning One is FUN

Giving Thanks

One day a year is not enough time
to list my many blessings
so here in a blog I share my thoughts in a rhyme

I think of these blessings a few times each day
and to Him give thanks that he loves me this much
for with these blessings he asks not of me to repay

For When God gives, he also takes away, but the sun always shines a new
This, I have learned, is a great gift he has shared
His loves pour out each day, each day his blessings are true

Together, with one, we now make three
what a wonderful blessing of my little Family
I bring my praises to God, and hope he is proud of Me

A house, a job, clean clothes on our backs
a warm bed, food, and love
So many more blessings, it's hard to keep track

But if we count them at least once each and every day
God smiles upon us and our remembering of him
and his blessings rain down in a new and loving way.

Happy Thanksgiving to My friends and family. For I love you all, and count you a blessing each and every day. May God's light shine upon you today, tomorrow, and the days that follow.

Happy Halloween!

That was an original title, huh peeps? haha Anyways, today is Halloween, and it has been a fun day for the Jackson's. Daddy got to golf with buddies this morning, and mommy got to visit with her favorite family and Bff. Yesterday was Connors birthday party and WOW did we have fun!

My BFF, Shelly and her hubby and kiddo came to town, as well as my family from Ada and Edmond. I was overjoyed with the turnout at Cs party. It is truly a blessing to have people who love you and your child enough to make a 3 hour drive to come celebrate a very special day in a little one's life. C may not remember it, but I will for sure tell him how loved he was on this day. Feeling loved is something we all enjoy, and I thoroughly felt love this weekend. Couldn't have asked for more.

C's party was at Nanny and Pops' house with an Elmo theme and turned out super cute. Everyone wore Elmo-face shirts or cookie monster faced shirts, which made for some adorable pictures. (of which I will have to borrow from someone since this busy party planning mommy didn't have her camera nor the extra hands and arms to snap). Thankfully, my entire family owns the Canon Rebel camera so there are some pretty fun pics to share soon. Shel-bel helped me get everything together in time for the party to start and I couldn't have done it witout her! And thank you mom and dad for letting your house be party central!!!

Friday was C one year well baby appointment where he weighed 21lbs, 12 oz. Was 30 in long and his head was well, in the 70th % is all I remember. Doctor calls him perfect which makes mommy and daddy proud and grin big. We even shared the video of him eating his cookie monster cupcake, and she laughed and grinned as if she were family. Love our pediatrician! Unfortunately, C had to get FOUR shots at this appointment so needless to say he was a pretty upset lil guy. Understanding the doctor office and equating it with pain is not fun for a one year old, and C gets it. Luckily, this happy boy recovers quickly and was back to his care-free self pretty soon after. For his party day, though, we had bit of a struggle. C was not feeling well from his shots still, and naps were not happening so he was EXHAUSTED for his party. Funny, because aren't most one year olds cranky at their party?

As I look back over the weekend, i am just purely happy. It was just an all around great time.

I am looking forward to another amazing year with our angel and seeing his personality bloom, and maybe even hear a few real words. He's got DADA down pretty good, and I am starting to hear Ma once in a while when he is hurt of course. (hehe, but I will take it no matter what).

Thank you dear family for coming to celebrate this weekend. Each one of you made Connor's birthday a very memorable loving day, and I am so thankful. Having a family like ours can be crazy, wild, hilarious, loud, fun, and it takes a family just like mine to make the best memories you could ever make! (and when I say family, that of course includes my BFF and her fam too!!!)

Early Birthday Post

TEARS OF JOY, TEARS OF SADNESS, TEARS OF PURE EMOTION.

Okay, so I didn't cry when Connor got his first haircut, but man I have been fighting back the waterworks the last couple of days as tomorrow is the day our son turns one year old, and I can't even wrap my brain around it. It's so joyous, so fun, so exciting, and I am so blessed from this year of love and happiness. I just can't believe it is here. I wondered why I haven't been able to sleep this week, and I finally realized that I am party planning while trying to snooze, and I am thinking of the past year as I try to doze off. Shutting off my brain has been hard because I don't want to forget a thing from this past year. I want to write something profound to this child, and I can't even find the words that I want to say. His party is going to be so fun, and I can't wait to see friends and family to celebrate this day that I was given a miracle. Thank you God for letting us spend our time on earth with the presence of Connor Brayden. He is truly a miracle, truly a blessing, truly the best thing that could have ever happened to this momma and daddy.

Do you Love Nanny?

Iphone Pictures! C at 10 and 11 months..

Finally Fall

Greetings dear blog followers:

I title this blog finally fall because it has been such a blessing to have some cooler weather in the great state of Texas. Mostly, I am loving this weather because of my recent re-entry into the running world; otherwise, I would care less that it's 120 degrees outside. I know this blog really isn't about me per se, but it has felt great to get back into running and burning calories post nursing cheating. Ha! Man those 600 free calories were nice, I am having to work too hard to keep these burning. Its all good though. It takes a team to try to train for a race and work and have a baby. Thankfully, my mother is a good team player and keeps our angel to let me get some running in.

Side note: I am trying to simultaneously upload photos to Facebook to no avail and I feel my bp rising. end of side note.

We officially have a "walking baby" in our household. This week has been a major milestone in the walking. Labor day weekend we got our first few teeny attempts at steps, and it has been non-stop since then. Sometimes I look down and see Connor walking towards me and I am taken aback by how time flies and how big he is getting. Oh and do I have a fun post for you on time to follow. This post could get long so stay with me peeps.

My funny story for this blog includes a story of Connor walking. A week ago today, I was picking up around the house and C was following me everywhere until he got distracted and was playing in his room. I went out of his room to continue my quick clean, and I sat on the couch to fold some clothes. I could hear C crawling on the carpet, so I knew he was coming towards me. In a matter of about 30 seconds I look up toward the hallway and see C walking down the hall holding onto nothing. Startled, I thought to myself, is that MY SON WALKING down the hall toward me? It was a surreal moment in deed. Ever since, he has just been a walking machine, and it is awesome and fun to watch. Guess its' a good thing I am trying to run again so I can keep up with this little man. I am leaving it all up to C to keep mommy's metabolism in high gear. :-)

Now for my post about time. Friday night, i was rocking C after his nighttime bottle, and as I was rocking him I was thinking. Me, holding baby, rocking, and I think... a lot. Well, the thought of time came up in my mind. And as you can tell from my previous posts I often make reference to how fast time is flying by. It is truly mind boggling at this point in my life. So I am rocking and thinking, what would Webster's say about time? Is it anywhere close to the emotion we feel as time passes and we suddenly realize how fast it actually goes by? My next thought about time after thinking about webster's dictionary was how that day at lunch I was heating up my leftover spaghetti and I was watching the seconds countdown on the timer. I thought, well it's nice that it only takes a matter of seconds to reheat food, but what happens to those :30 seconds? I am just standing here watching the time disappear, and it is forever gone. Those little :30 seconds affected me for some reason. Because in the grand scheme, once a moment is gone, it is gone forever. We can hope that our memories will hold strong, but I am scared that they won't. There are so many things about this season of life that I don't want to forget, yet time is going by so fast I don't know how to hold onto so many things. Is this getting too deep? I think it, and I am not sure I want to face the emotion that goes along with that deep thought. Anyways, time is precious and I just want to enjoy every single second that I am on this earth and getting to enjoy this precious gift from God. I am not sure what we did to deserve this little man, but he is the coolest addition to our lives. It doesn't get any better for sure.

(as I told my hubs about this "time" thought process I had while rocking Connor, he looks at me and grins. I said, you know me and my thinking time!" again, he just grins at me)

Haircut! I am questioning myself somewhat as I did not cry when C got his haircut yesterday. it was his first cut, and he looks precious and toddler-esque. I was so proud of him, he sat there and watched Dora on the little t.v, and he let the lady cut his hair without a major breakdown. I am giggling right now because I keep picturing his adorable face as she squirted itty bitty amounts of water to get his hair wet; he would scrunch his shoulders and squint like he was being drenched. The lady that cut his hair was so gentle and sweet to him, and he was so good. I was so excited that his bangs would be out of his face, and I was so happy to see him acting so well behaved that I just didn't cry. I know that I wasn't supposed to cry or feel sad, but I fully realized that he was a big boy and this was a milestone. I just keep looking at his little haircut and it's so cute on him and he looks like it feels better than having his hair tangling his eye lashes. :-)

Pics to follow. I say that often though don't I?..

Running, walking, reading

I have no idea what my last post says so if I repeat myself, I apologize in advance.
Ten months ago I had this precious little packaged delivered to me, and every single day since then he has brought smiles to my face, fireworks to my heart, and love to my soul. Feeling sappy is pretty normal for me lately seeing as how I just placed an order for First Birthday party invitations. What? Can this be real? Has an ENTIRE YEAR already flown by? Well, almost, close enough for me.

I can't imagine life without Connor and his personality and the "little person" he is becoming. He takes change with ease (unlike his mommy) and he has something amazing to bring into each day. For example..
*At 8 months, I started to wean my lil one from nursing and by 9.5 months we were completely weaned of our special bond; however, with great ease C took his bottle morning, noon, and night and never fussed or disagreed. He still cuddles close to me and looks into my eyes, and plays with my lips or tries to put his adorably large baby feet into my mouth as he eats.
*More amazement comes from his ability to learn. Yea yea, all babies are like sponges and learn, but this kid, seriously, amazes me how quickly he takes in something I think I am teaching him.
*Put this IN the box, now take it OUT of the box. He can do this after one afternoon lesson and a refresher the next morning. I almost fell over watching him study the box, open the lid, put the item in when I said IN, and then he took out the same. This stuff is cool.
*His smile in return to anything you say or do for him. I would like to think I am raising a happy, healthy, grateful child, and so far I can say this is so. I just hope we can keep it up. I love the little boy C is turning into.

T.V, who needs t.v? I really have no desire to watch television anymore. I have no clue when shows start, end, or who is on them. With working and mommyhood and wifery and trying to fit running schedule in too, I have not time for t.v. and this is ok. It is WAY more fun to chase around a 10 month old through the house making sure he doesn't fall on his head or climb the tree or all that dangerous baby doings.

Walking! Well, we are close. Labor day weekend we got to spend some quality time at home, and C loved having his mom and dad to be his audience 24/7. We have a couch and a chair with an ottoman. I connected the ottoman between the couch and chair giving C a full obstacle course to try to walk around. He can hold on and walk, but the test was "Hey Connor, come get this toy from mommy (just out of reach)". He grins that beautiful grin and giggles and here he comes.....One step...hands to the ground and fallllllll. We did this repeatedly. It is kind of ironic to me how close puppy training and child raising are to each other. Right? I knew you would agree.

Reading! I am sure I used this in my last post, but C is loving his books. Ignoring almost all other toys, he loves his books every day. His quest is to turn the pages methodically, and he is getting really good at this. To adults, these simple tasks seems so simple until you watch your child patiently try to master a challenge, like opening a book on his own and turning the pages.

Sleeping! Oh yea baby, we finally made it to the all night mark. It took 9.5 months to get there, but everyone said it would happen, and it did. Bottle, hugs and rocks, and baby to bed, a few tears, and a few minutes later and we have a 10 hour sleeping baby. Join with me....Hallelujah.
(side note: I knew I would and I said I would..miss those mid morning feedings. Miss them just for the time I had with C, but loving the sleep and the brain functioning that follows).

Thanks for reading...Happy Days to you..

Buh-Buy

We have our first word spoken with understanding of its usage!
Connor said Bye-Bye aka Buh-Bye. Disney channel has these monkey puppets that sing a bye-bye song when Mickey goes off for the morning and it goes something like this:
"OO-OO, OO-OO, AH-AH-BYE BYE
OO-OO, AH-AH, BYE BYE."
Sunday morning, the song came on and I started singing with Connor and he says "buh-bye" right on cue! HUH?! The kid knows where to use the word?..awesomeness.
The remainder of the day, I cued him to see if it was a fluke, and he said it again.
So fun, just glad his first word wasn't "NO." ha

Pics!!

Little Gym fun, July 2010
Big smiles waiting for Elmo at Sea World, Aug 2010The boys hanging with Elmo!
I see SHAMU!!
First hand clapping at Sea World, Aug 2010
Mama and Baby
Precious precious face
Jackson3 with Bert and Ernie
Loving his breakfast with Elmo

Baby Babbles continued

My post yesterday was incomplete and I was bothered by the fact, so I return today with more thoughts.

As the title states "Baby Babbles", I come to share my wee-one's baby babbles at 9.5 months.
-When Connor gives slobbery yummy baby kisses we call it "love love". After hearing this all of his life, he can now make the sound "love love" (in baby talk of course it sounds like Luh,luh). So cute!
-Several times you can hear him trying to say I love you which sounds something like u uv ooo. We confirm what he is saying and repeat it 20 times to try to get him to say it over and over. We aren't excited or anything.
-He has been heard saying HI a couple of times now. Plain as day, he hears the phone ring and says HI. Is this coincidence or is my child a genius? I choose the latter..
-Reading books. C loves to read books, and will sit in the floor with is books for long stretches of time just flipping the pages, chewing the edges, and "reading" the book. A small voice can be heard as he creates his little story. Precious. His favorite books are at his nanny's house of course and include: I'm a little teapot (which has a spin wheel on the side to make the picture turn on the page, and he figured the wheel out this week).His next favorite is the "5 little monkeys" book.
-Clapping. While we were at Sea World, C clapped his hands together with noise for the first time. I have been watching and waiting for this moment since he has been keeping his hands closed to clap. And we got to see it, together, on vacation. Now, he claps all the time when you say clap-clap. And he grins of course!

Girls Girls Girls!! Our son is quite the ladies man. Any venue we attend, C will spot a pretty girl/lady and give her goo-goo eyes, toothy grins, and his full attention. Case in point, we went to the Rangers game on mom's birthday, and behind us sat this couple with a lady about my age (don't even go there! lol), and he spotted her and continued to flirt the entire game. She couldn't get enough of his cuteness because the whole game she kept talking to him and I could over hear her talking about how cute he was. Well of course he is cute! :-)
Connor's second big flirting adventure was on my birthday. We met my friend V and her hub Mario at Olive Garden. A couple our age was sat at the booth behind our table, and C spotted this lil blonde girl wearing her stylish sun type hat, and it was all over. I told the guy that he now had competition. The girl giggled the whole time because C wouldn't take his eyes off her. He would grin at her and make babbles. It made for a fun evening.
Speaking of my birthday, I had a great day even though I had a one year anniversary of my 30th bday. GAG! Anyways, since we had just taken vacation the week before I returned to work on a Monday which was my birthday, another GAG. Trying to play catch up, sad that I was at work on my bday, and missing my boys, I look up from my desk about 1:00 to see 2 handsome guys walk in the front door of the office. My boys came to take me to lunch. I seriously couldn't stop grinning for an hour, I felt special. It turned into a great day, and I could get used to seeing those 2 in the middle of the day, everyday.

Maybe my next post will be all pictures so you don't have to read my boring prose...
Much love~~

Baby Boy Babbles

OOPS! Is all I can say for the 4 weeks that have passed with no blogging. Oh well, it has been a busy time. In mid July, my nephews Cam and Coop came down for a week and completely fell in love with Connor. Seeing those 3 boys play together can melt a mama's heart. My lil one wanted to be as big as the 2 big boys, and he tried so hard. They took such good care of him, Cam even changed diapers! Thanks bud! The best part was walking into mom's front door to have Connor melt onto Camren and cover him with love love, and he did the same for Cooper. Precious.
The next weekend, the brother and sis-in-law came down, and we had a lake day on Lake Whitney. Beautiful lake, beautiful sunshine, blast on the sea-doos, and more love from my nephews..it was a great day! While I am speaking of that lake day, my hub was pulling me on the seadoo while I was kneeboarding. Well, I was trying to be strong and mighty and hold on through the chop and I hit a wave, flew into the air, and instead of letting go of the rope, I held on only to fall face first in the water. Neck cranked backwards and still attached the kneeboard and feeling like I was drowing and couldn't get face up in the water (this really lasted like 1 second). I come up, hub pulls around and I am laying in the lake like a dead woman, and he asks if I am ok. All I can say is, I dont' know! I don't know! I really thought I had injured my 30 year old back. As the afternoon went on, my sore neck got more and more stiff, but I just laughed. Next morning, even worse, but as of today I am all better with no lake injuries plaguing me.
The next weekend, my bff Shelly and her hub Nic were making plans to come down for a visit. The plan fell through but I got to see her anyways. Shel called early Saturday morning to tell me her dad was not breathing and the ambulance was on its way to her mom's house. Long story short, Tony had a scare and was in a drug-induced coma for a week. Praise God that he woke up and is making healing progress. John and I drove to OKC to be with Shelly and her family because the outcome was unknown that day and I wanted to be with her. It was a very traumatic day, and I never want to see her or her family or my family in this scary unknown life threatening place. Prayers were answered though and I can't wait to go see them again, not in the hospital!
Onto vacation! Hub and I took baby to Sea World in San Antonio. Had a blast, Connor was so happy and cheery the whole time. Our hotel was quite loud but that is our only vacation complaint. Saturday morning Connor got to have breakfast with Elmo. This was our favorite part of the trip (besides the first clapping of hands that Connor did at one of the shows and J and I were giddy lil parents!) I was nervous that C would be scared of Elmo, but not my lil hoss. He loved Elmo and Bert and Ernie! We couldn't stop grinning at C who in turn couldn't take his eyes off of the life-sized characters. Fun times, great memories, and pics to follow..

Growling, crawling, smiling

I have been wanting to share these funny baby things for a few days now and just haven't made time to blog it but today is the day, hooray! This week we have a few fun new things going on with Connor..mainly he has become quite the little lion and can growl the cutest baby growl ever. Now, most of you who know me, know that I dislike scary voices, creepy soundover type things and low and behold my son can growl a growl that is almost scary yet still cute because he is grinning. I think if it weren't for the adorable grin, I would actually think there was a monster in there. We actually ask him if he is a monster when he does this. Maybe I can catch it on camera soon and get it posted (yea right).
Besides our little growl, Connor is learning temper tantrums, I want that now! I don't want you to do that! I am mad so I will scream now! His scream is pretty loud, and since his mommy and daddy are not the most quiet people ever, this isn't surprising. It started out kind of cute, but now it is becoming the real deal, fit throwing. I don't like the word NO being used in every 5 seconds with my son, so we try other things, but this week No and UH-UH are working well to stop his action that could cause harm.
Crawling is a piece of cake these days. My new favorite thing is to be able to run around the house picking and putting up only to look behind me and see my punkin pie crawling along grinning like it is a game. It is so fun to wait for him to come find me when I leave the room. I can hear this lil giggle and those hands and knees pattering on the carpet and then there he is! Right at me feet. So fun! We have mastered pulling up and will pull up on anything whether or not it is a sturdy surface. This gives mommy heart palpitations, but I am trying hard not to hold his arm every second of every day. A few bumps and bruises never hurt anyone, right? So far, he has had a bumped/bruised cheekbone, some teeny tiny bruised knees because he loves to crawl on tile and wood. I would say those are the worst of his injuries, thank goodness!
Smiling! I have truly been blessed with a baby who smiles a smile that literally lights up the world. Everyone who meets Connor says what a happy baby he is, this makes his mama happy. We try to give him such love and cuddles so that he is safe and happy and I hope this happy baby stays happy for many many more years!
The Little Gym: about a month ago, I signed up for a class for Connor at the little gym in our hometown. Classes are set up for all ages starting at 4 months all the way up to big kids. Connor is in the "Bugs" class with his 2 other little buddies: 3 boys (imagine that, more boys). The other 2 boys are one month older than Connor and are a little ahead of him, but not by much. They can stand a little steadier and hold on to the bar for longer periods, but other than that my hercules keeps up with the best of them. This week was Bring a Friend day, and I brought my sweet friend, Sam and her baby boy Grayson. What fun we had! I think Sam and I had the most fun by watching our wee one's smiles and grins. Watching 2 babies interact with each other is like watching puppies play, it's just adorable to see them soaking it all in. And on top of that, Sam and I got our workout in too; we were sweating from holding and rolling and playing with these babies. Thank Jesus for sweet friends!
High five. Oh yes, my baby is smart and can give high 5 on command now. It makes my heart burst when he does it because he grins like he did something good! Awesome to teach and see learning!
Rangers. Connor got to go with mommy, daddy, Nanny and Pops to the Rangers game last weekend. He had a blast and the noise didn't bother him this time. Some 20somethings behind us were having a great time chatting and entertaning Connor. Of course, C would put on his adorable grin and they would all just get the biggest kick out of him and how cute he is. So funny. At the end of the game were the awesome Ranger fireworks in which my tired angel fell asleep, he was pooped. I held the sleeping baby while we enjoyed some rocking fireworks, they put on a great show to some good tunes.
Love. I end with Love. My heart is full of it every single day and I couldn't be happier. Please be sure and give your loved ones hugs and kisses today and tell them how much you love them...

Adventures of a 7 month old

Me and Mommy at the Little Gym, with my new buddies
Did I mention that I LOVE the water?
I just love to play in the grass!
Making new friends (who are the same size as me too.)

Thoughts, just thoughts

This blog is somewhat selfish and not a brag session of my son, but I felt the need to share some things with those that I love...

Today is an odd day for some reason. Everyone around me at work is in this mundane ho-hum mood and it is affecting me like I don't want it to. I mean, come on now, I am the one who is up every 2 hours with a child to care for. LOL. I just wonder what is in the air today. Then on the other hand, I am thinking of this boy who lies in a hospital bed with a massive brain injury and I pray for him constantly. A friend of mine emailed me earlier this week with at link to caringbridge.com journal for a young man named Thomas Joseph Stanton who lives in Kingwood, Texas. He had a skateboarding accident and has been in a drug induced coma for 10 days. His mother and father are keeping updates on the caringbridge website and I find myself praying for this child and his parents. I am not looking for accolades here at all, I just don't know what draws me to this situation. Could it be that as a mom, I am placing myself in Joseph's mom's shoes? and wondering What would I do in this situation with all of its unknowns. The Stanton's faith is literally unshakable, as evidenced by their story and daily updates. It is such a testimony to me to read of their faith and strength. Now granted, I have been living on the "happy" side of life for SEVERAL months now; however, not forgetting what it takes to get to these happy times of life: trial! I reflect daily on my scars, and how I am to be thankful for everything that I have been blessed with in my life. I really did get everything I have prayed for, and yet it too could be taken away in the blink of an eye. I am not trying to sound so down, I just think about what the Stanton's are going through and I realize that I have a precious miracle gift of a son that I could never let anything happen to. Yet, sometimes these things are out of control, and guess what? When things in life are out of control, guess who is IN CONTROL? The ALMIGHTY SAVIOR! How did I get so lucky as to come to know God in my heart and soul and accept that he is real and taking care of me and my family and friends EVERY step of the way in this life? Through trial, doubt, fear, worry, anger... He is there through it all. My personal mantra is "there is always sunshine after the rain". I am living in my sunshine, but I still thank God every day for the blessings he has poured upon me and how blessed I feel for getting to live this life. I refuse to take it for granted, no matter what "mood" goes on around or in me.

Now, I must admit, I am no saint, I don't read my bible every day, I don't ask forgiveness of my sins every single day, and I curse, and I get angry, and I have a mood swing a couple times a day..but in the end, I try to remember where I come from. I come from a God of love, who will be there despite those things where I fall short.

Lastly, I am plagued by thoughts of another person in need and it is heavy on my heart on a daily basis. I pray for this situation as if it were my own, and I only know that God has a plan for this friend. It may not come in the time wanted, and it may not come in the package dreamed of, but it will come. Friend, I know it is difficult, but let life bloom around you despite this life trial. Yet in the very same breath it is so hard to remember to give it all to Him.

I don't know why the need to have a deep blog, just needed to share some things going on around me. I hope you have heard some inspiration in my blog today.
Love,
T

Six month pictures

Pulling up on Nanny's couch
Showing off my Rangers jersey with "YOUNG" on the back
Having fun at the Ranger game
Deep thoughts for a sleeping baby
I sure like the camera

Was my last blog really April 29th? I have no earthly idea where the time has gone, which is proof in the pudding in that I have a SEVEN month old on my hands. WHAT? This is not possible. I am not ready to plan a 1 year old birthday party for my little gift from heaven. I am truly trying to cherish every moment with him.

As usual, this blog is about Connor. I should re-title it to read "Connor's world". There are so many fun things happening right now with him. His world is such a cool place to be and I get to see it in his eyes. For a 7 month old, this child really thinks he can do much more than he physically should at this point, but determination should be his middle name because we can't hold him back. In a matter of the last 2 weeks, he went from inch-worm crawling to full hand and knee crawling, which immediately turned into, OH, Look! I can pull up on the couch if I can get close enough. That went from shakily pulling up to putting said feet underneath and standing up. Wow! I think he is amazing.

Mommy and Daddy's bed is a new favorite of lil man's. Not that he sleeps in there, just that we all love to cuddle and play. He loves to roll and crawl and climb between us, I think mainly he sees us as obstacles to try to climb to the floor, eat the remote or my phone, or get to the water bottles on my night stand. Everything is game for that child.

Speaking of climbing, and I don't even want to post this, but here goes. Since Connor mastered pulling up in a matter of one day, I put him to bed Friday night of Memorial weekend. As is normal, he woke up at 5:30 and I went to check on him. I had to make a pit-stop in the hall bath before I fed him, so before I could take care of my business, I hear a loud THUD followed by a deep very scared cry from my baby. I took 3 large steps around the corner and see my angel lying on his back in the floor in front of his crib. Let me pause: Never ONCE has this child EVER touched the sides of his crib with is hands. He has crawled end to end of it for a month or so now but never has pulled up or anything. But earlier that day, Friday, he had started pulling up. I assume he figured out he could get his hands on the spindles and push up enough that he was almost chest high, looked over the edge and flipped out! What a horrible mom I am for not lowering the crib in time. But honestly, how would I have known that he was ready to pull up on the crib when the one and only attempt, he was too tall. I am still having nightmares about it. We took him to the children's ER to have him checked out, and he is A-Ok praise the Lord! We immediately lowered the crib and now he can only peek through the bars on his knees. But how long will that last I ask myself since he is so tall for his age.

We are still having issues with sleeping through the night, but I am trying to just understand that he is figuring out this world and it takes a lot of brain connection to make that happen, and nighttime is a time for him to think about all the cool thing he learned that day. It will all work itself out, and when he is gone from the nest and I am sleeping 8 hours again, I know I will miss these sleepless nights and sleepy days...

My baby is 6 months old!

Yet another FULL month has gone by without my blogging. Oh well I say, since life has been so full of busy things. Mainly baby, but we just got moved into our new house. Well, it's 2 years old but perfectly new to us! No more freakishly dangerous stairs, no more scary electrical system from 1969, and no more patio as a backyard. I could go on and on about the things I love about the new house, but this is more about my angel baby than material things. But we are loving the house so much, and this mommy is so happy about not having to drive all day to and fro to get anywhere now! What a blessing.

And speaking of blessings, I have one Major heaven-sent blessing in my son. People always say that nothing prepares you for motherhood, and I have found that they are right. I never dreamed that my heart could literally burst inside from joy and happiness. It is it's own kind of happiness and joy-basically indescribable. So this angel baby of mine, turned 6 months old yesterday. I was just reading Aprils blog about how fast time goes and how fast our babies grow up, and I was thinking to myself, How TRUE that is! These precious times when they are small just don't last very long at all, and it really isn't fair. But I do savor EACH and EVERY moment I have with that baby boy.

As usual, I like to update on what my hercules baby is doing. First off, he rolled over from back to tummy yesterday at mom's-that was his first time. HE has the other roll pretty much down, but this one has eluded him until now. Connor rolls over really fast so he gets this startled look on his face that makes me grin and cheer for him so he knows he did a good job! We have a crawler on our hands! Yay! 2 weeks ago we got the inchworm or army crawl, and now and then we get up on all 4's and take a lunge forward while reaching out for a toy in sight. He is definitely adamant about things when he wants them. He LOVES watching the puppy dogs run around, I, on the other hand, am despising dogs lately. Stinky, hairy, barky and whiney, I could do without them right now but that's a soap box I don't want to get on right now.

When I leave for work from mom's, she walks outside with Connor. He immediately starts wiggling to get turned around to face outward, and as she turns him around his legs and arms are flailing. He is amazed by the world outside, and I can't wait to see those chubby toes playing in the grass.

One of my many favorite things about this baby is his happiness when he wakes up in the mornings. I go into his room after I wake up from hearing him on the monitor, and when I walk in and say "Good Morning Punkin Pie!!", he turns that head up to me and just grins that grin that makes a momma's heart pitter patter! Then it isn't 2 seconds and he is ready to chow down. I have a good eater on my hands for sure.

We started food at 4.5 months, and he did great liking all foods we gave him. Then after a couple of weeks, we noticed that he was puking more than normal. Connor has always been a very "happy" spitter as my doctor would call it. Anyways, we thought that maybe his tummy just wasn't ready for the food, so we took a 2 week break, but the spitting/puking didn't change. We are now having food again, he loves it, and we will hope the doc was right when she said at 6 months he will stop the spitting up. Haha, we will see. As of yesterday, he was still a puker!

Lastly for today, we talk about the sippy cup. What 6 month old can use a sippy cup and know how to use it? Well, mine can! Mom and I gave him some apple juice Sunday in a sippy cup, and he tipped that thing back, and went to town. He loves juice! It was one of those proud momma moments for sure.

I am sure there are things I am leaving out since I delayed posting a new blog for 4 weeks, and I don't have new pics of the house, or an updated pic of my baby. But my next post will be all pics. That's what you all look at anyways! :-) Admit it!!

Love and Blessings from the Jackson3~~~

New day, New life

Let me ask for a free pass on creative writing for this post. I haven't had much sleep and the creative section of my brain is completely malfunctioning.

Just sitting in OKC patiently waiting for Anderson Lee to make his debut. April has been in great spirits while little Andy was giving her some good contractions. While we are in the waiting room, my little one is sound asleep on his Nanny. He had an early morning and a late night so lots of sleep to catch up on.

Connor and I had a busy week this week as I got to bring him to work with me this week. Nanny and Pops took a mini vacation to Colorado. It was fun having him with me at the office, and who cares that it took me a while to get work done, seeing his precious little face every second made it a great week.

Our new thing this week is spitting and fist chewing. We went from blowing bubbles to full blown spitting with our tongue. Also, gurgling. I lay him on his back and he gets his spit built up in the back of his throat and gurgles it and laughs. A very funny adorable activity.

I know there are so many more things to update you all on, but I just can't find the words this morning. Maybe I will revisit the post later.

I want to end with thanking God for the blessing of family. My favorite times in life are being with my family. With new life coming today, and my new baby, it is just amazing what God can do in his perfect time. Thank you for reading our blog and loving our family, we love you in return.

A lil sunshine does wonders on the soul

I come to the blog in a happy mood today because my God has blessed us with a sky full of sunshine! And oh it feels so good in the soul. Thank you My Jesus!!

I also come to the blogging world today to fill in on our 4 month old bundle of happy happy joy. I realize the happiness is pouring out of me like syrup today, but I just can't help it.

Hercules had his 4 month checkup on Monday March 1. We have one tall baby on our hands..who would have thought?! Ha!. His length came in at 25.5 (70%!!!); weight was 14.10 (45%) and his head circumfrence was 16.5 (45%). He is just a perfect perfect baby.(sorry for the mush..hey wait, no I'm not!!).

Our pediatrician office is adorable with paintings of circus images and zoo animals. There are mirrors on the wall behind the tables where the baby lays. Dr. Fikkert did her exam and asked all the developmental questions (of which Connor is performing with flying colors). As she finished his exam, she plopped him on his belly, and he immediately went into his mini-push up with that adorable head held up high and he was looking in the mirror at her just grinning and happy. I just had to laugh, it was just one of those cute baby moments where you realize how they are becoming so aware of their surroundings.

Since C is a tummy sleeper only (don't turn me into the American Pediatric Association) our doctor told me to remove the bumper pad in order to decrease the chance of him breathing into the pad and not getting enough clean oxygen. I was hesitant to do this, but I also want him safe from SIDS. The first night I removed the pad, C didn't move at all from his sleeping spot. This is unusual because he is quite the wiggler. But last night, he wiggled himself to the end of the crib and his foot was hanging out. I am not sure about this still, but will continue to make sure we are safe. Any ideas or suggestions, please pass them along.

I can't recall if I mentioned that C is rolling over from tummy to back. Last week, I was picking him up from mom's and I had told her that I hadn't seen him roll over much in a week or two. Her reply was funny and true.. well we really don't put him on his tummy since we hold him or entertain him all the time. (sorry mom if that wasn't exact). So that night when I got home, I immediately plopped him on his tummy in the floor and low and behold, he rolled over. I was so ecstatic, that I grabbed the video camera, repositioned him, and in about 2 minutes, he did it again and I caught in on camera! My first action shot caught on camera, Yay!!

We, the Jackson3, are sooo looking forward to spring and some warmer temps to get that baby outside to explore a whole new world than inside the house. I can already tell he is so attentive to details and very inquisitive as most babies are, and I am chomping at the bit to get him outside. Looking forward to the first dirt under the fingernails! Haha. Oh, and maybe even to run some! I haven't done much running, the schedule just doesn't allow right now with driving and baby and working. It will all work out and I know I will get a half marathon in this summer. I just set a goal! Yay.

As always, blessings to you all and I hope you enjoy the update!!

LOVE, HUGS & KISSES

Somehow I let another month go by without blogging. oops. I felt like I was repeating myself on the last 2 posts so maybe that's why I have put off updating information. Being a proud mama, I must give updates on the world that is Connor.
Since I found out I was pregnant, I joined a website called babycenter.com. It gives you weekly updates during your pregnancy and then post partum as to milestones for your baby, etc. I have begun to notice that my hercules genius stays about a week ahead of their little weekly update emails. I laugh every time I get my email because it is full of things that Connor has or is accomplishing. This could be so boring for some people, but as I type I picture all the things he is doing.
For example, he has rolled over three times in his crib just before he wakes up for the day. I caught it once in person and once on the monitor, and the third time scared him awake so I ran in there to find him lying on his back. We call him Hercules because he is attempting to pull toys off his playmat (which he did at his Nanny's house one day), he wants to pull up to sit using our hands, and he immediately goes into standing position. I am thinking, Really? Is this the baby, that at just 4 months ago, was so tiny we didn't have clothes that fit him? He is now pushing the limits on his 0-3 month clothes. Which is normal since he is a few days shy of 4 months. Typing that makes my mind race through all of the things that have happened in 4 short months.
Connor has his favorite ways of being put to sleep, his favorite way to be held, his favorite people, and of course he is still lovin mama's milk as seen by his ever growing double chin and baby rolls. Just adorable!! So laughter is something we try to get this child to do daily, and while he does laugh, we have yet to accomplish that big loud belly laugh. We can get him to giggling and chuckling, but it is this deep chuckle. I can't even explain it, it is one of those sweet baby sounds, and it makes us laugh harder when he is grinning ear to ear and can't let that big laugh out. It is too funny.
We introduced the excisaucer a couple weeks ago. Up until this time, C has been too small to really enjoy this awesome toy with lights and buttons and learning activities surrounding. Last night, I put him in there to try to wear him out before bed, and the minute his hiney got in there, he started bouncing and hitting the buttons to make the lights and sounds. I just laughed out loud, and yelled at J "LOOk at our son, he is such a big boy!!". We just sat there giggling at how strong he was sitting there and holding up his head and using his toes to balance. Within a matter of a day or two this child gets so much more amazing.
I know I have doted on and on about the baby, but that's what this blog is all about. For those who don't get to see the lil guy very often, I hope these milestone descriptions give you a glimpse into our world.

Other news: SNOW!! Yes, Snow, like 9 inches of it! J and I lost power on a Thursday afternoon at 2 and the recording told me 6 pm for it to come back on, at 4:30 I called again and the time had been pushed back to 10 pm. Without wanting to take our chances of being stuck in a cold house with baby, we trekked to my mom's house because she still had power. We got all loaded up, and started our 30 min drive which took an hour because of the snow and slush. It was close to 6:30 as we were making it up the first hill to mom's house. Many of you know that first hill that gets you into the subdivision. We made it about 3/4 of the way and started slipping, and the tires wouldn't regain traction. J tried and tried, but we just couldn't get enough speed to power through. We parked in a cul-de-sac, I unbuckled Connor, wrapped 2 blankets around his sleeping body, and we walked the rest of the way up that hill and then onto moms hill to safety and warmth. C didn't have a clue what had happened. It was a fun weekend being at mom's, eating pizza, watching movies and building a snowman. Pics are on her camera so I will try to get some on here soon.

2 Sundays ago, Connor made his first trip to the church nursery. It was so scary, but so fun at the same time. The church has an amazing set up for the babies, and he was taken care of so wonderfully. But 3 days later, someone ended up at the doctors office with RSV. Poor little guy, that was his 2nd dose of the nasty cold, but he is getting better. We put his crib mattress on an incline and got a cool-mist humidifer and it has helped his symptoms tremendously. Through all the snot, coughing and sneezing, my angel was still a s miley happy dude!!Just gotta love him to pieces!

Lastly, we are wanting to move closer to Burleson which will make my drive to work shorter; hence, giving me more time with Connor and more time to run and maybe even time to cook a meal at home! Haha!! I would like to ask you all to pray for this for us. We don't want to jump into a house that's over our head, or make a rash decision. Please pray that God leads us where he wants us to be.

Thank you for sticking through this long blog with me! I will try to make my next post all about pictures since I ran out of time for pics this time, and the majority of the new ones are on mom's camera these days :-)

Love you all! Many blessings until next time...

Leaving January behind...

Here we are with another month gone by and the old saying is true "the older you get the faster time flies." I never believed that until these past few months. Connor Brayden turned 3 months old yesterday, and I sit in disbelief that in 9 months we will be throwing a birthday party. Yes, my mind goes there. Savoring every moment of his precious tiny self is pure joy for me and his daddy.

It feels so odd that I have been back at work for a month now. It's still going fine, just one of those things ya have to do, and Connor doesn't mind his time with his Nanny! In fact, he loves it and you can see it on his face each and every morning. Makes mom and I giggle every time he grins once the blanket is removed from his face.

Some tiny person in our household is starting to enjoy fun colorful things on the....television. No, we don't sit him in front of it for hours without checking on him, but he does love his Baby Einstein DVD and Mickey's playhouse on Disney channel. Who knew a 3 month old could have an attention span..well mine does. (I recall saying that in my prev post, sorry).

With this short and sweet blog, I will sign off now, just wanted an update with some pics to show my growing pumpkin pie. He is just a blessing beyond words!!

And He Grows...

I very well know that I am in big trouble for not blogging religiously since my last post in November. Oops! But here I am in January 2010 ready to blog away. As I type, my 2 month old angel is sitting in his swing cooing and wiggling to the Mickeys clubhouse cartoon on tv. Amazement describes the changes going on with the baby boy. I will get into those in a bit.

2 weeks ago I returned to work which was something I had dreaded from the very day I found out I was pregnant. I knew the difficulty involved and I was just hoping the day would never come, but it did. Luckily, I have a momma sent straight from the heavens and she is watching Connor while I go to work. Watching his eyes light up every morning when we walk in the door and he sees his Nanny will make a bad morning turn bright. He definitely loves his Nanny!! She takes such good care of him that I never have to worry if he is okay. I know he is just perfect in her arms!! For that I thank you mom. It has made the transition so much easier.

In the meantime, Connor has attended 2 Dallas Cowboy football games against the Eagles, and he was the lucky charm because we won both games. Silly, I know. Most of you know there is a MASSIVE jumbotron in the new stadium in which you can watch the game, replays, and of course those ever lovin Cowboy cheerleaders. We get into our seats at the first game for C-man, and those boobies (I mean cheerleaders) show up on the screen and J was holding him outwards, low and behold did their eyes light up simultaneously. It was hilarious, and we caught it on camera. Hopefully I have the picture to attach. How anyone, even a baby, can sleep through that loud cheering would amaze the best of us, but somehow Connor pulled it off at both games. He never cried, or got upset, just watched part of the game and slept the rest. Great memories!! Lastly, I performed the motherly task that I never imagined I would have the bravery to do...breastfeeding in public. We were in the lounge area at the stadium and C refused to take the bottle, so mom and I treked to the lounge where thankfully it was cleared out. She held up the blanket and my chubby baby chowed down with people around none the wiser. I was so proud of myself! Mommas gotta do what mommas gotta do to keep that baby happy and fed, right?

Achievements are happening in this house everyday as C-man discovers his hands and what cool things they can do for him. If I can figure it out, I will post the video of him pulling on a toy that squirms and wiggles. It makes for pure joy to see a baby learning what the world around him is all about, makes my heart melt.

For Christmas, Connor got this LeapFrog toy named Tad. Tad is an educational toy frog who is soft and bright and cute as a button. When his hand is pushed, he claps and counts, his belly sings that ABC's, by pushing his foot he sings a song for salsa, etc. Connor is mesmerized by Tad. He was 9 weeks old when he got the toy and he sits through all the activities that Tad performs. Thank goodness for attention spans. His other favorites are mobiles, or should I say ANYTHING moving or spinning above his head. I know he is thinking to himself, "How can I get a hold of those spinning things and put them in my mouth?!" Greatness.

Well, I should probably finish up this blog that has taken 2 days and get back to work so I can go see my bundle of joy. His smile lights up the world, ask his Daddy, Nanny or Pops, and even his Nanie got to see it this morning. Pure joy in this life I am living!!!